See

discussions, stats, and author profiles for this publication at: https://www.researchgate.net/publication/271273334

KINEMATIC AND UNSTEADY AERODYNAMIC

MODELLING OF FLAPPING BI- AND QUAD-
WING ORNITHOPTER

CONFERENCE PAPER · SEPTEMBER 2014

DOI: 10.13140/2.1.5099.5522

CITATIONS READS

5 89

2 AUTHORS:

Harijono Djojodihardjo Muhammad Anas Abd Bari

The Institute for the Advancement of Aeros… University of Southampton
140 PUBLICATIONS 163 CITATIONS 5 PUBLICATIONS 12 CITATIONS

SEE PROFILE SEE PROFILE

All in-text references underlined in blue are linked to publications on ResearchGate, Available from: Harijono Djojodihardjo
letting you access and read them immediately. Retrieved on: 03 February 2016
 KINEMATIC AND UNSTEADY AERODYNAMIC
MODELLING OF FLAPPING BI- AND QUAD-WING
ORNITHOPTER
Harijono Djojodihardjo, Muhammad Anas Abd Bari
Universiti Putra Malaysia, 43400 Serdang, Selangor DarulEhsan, Malaysia

Keywords: Bi-Wing Ornithopter,Flapping Wing Aerodynamics, Micro Air Vehicle, Quad-Wing

Ornithopter, Unsteady Aerodynamics

Abstract wing ornithopter modeled and analyzed to

mimic flapping wing biosystems to produce lift
A flapping quad-wing ornithopter is
and thrust for forward flight. To this end
modeled and analyzed to mimic flapping wing
considerations are given to the motion of a
biosystems to produce lift and thrust for forward
three-dimensional rigid and thin quad-wing in
flight by considering the motion of a three-
flapping and pitching motion with phase lag
dimensional rigid and thin quad-wing in
following earlier analysis of bi-wing model.
flapping and pitching motion with phase lag,
Basic Unsteady Aerodynamic Approach
based on earlier analysis of bi-wing. Basic
incorporating salient features of viscous effect
Unsteady Aerodynamic Approach incorporating
and leading-edge suction will be utilized.
salient features of viscous effect and leading-
Parametric study is carried out to reveal the
edge suction is utilized. Parametric study is
aerodynamic characteristics of flapping quad-
carried out to reveal the aerodynamic
wing ornithopter flight characteristics and for
characteristics of flapping quad-wing
comparative analysis with various selected
ornithopter flight and for comparative analysis
simple models in the literature, in an effort to
with various selected simple models in the
develop a simple flapping quad-wing
literature. A generic approach is followed to
ornithopter model, as exemplified in Fig. 1. A
understand and mimic the unsteady
generic approach is followed to understand and
aerodynamics of biosystem that can be adopted
mimic the unsteady aerodynamics of biosystem
in a simple and workable Quad-Wing-Micro-
that can be adopted in a simple and workable
Air-Vehicle (QVMAV) model. Analysis is
Quad-Wing-Micro-Air-Vehicle (QVMAV)
carried out by differentiating the pitching and
model.
flapping motion phase-lag and studying its
The most distinctive characteristic of
respective contribution to the flight forces.
flapping wing motion of ornithopters and
Further considerations are given to the
entomopters flight is the wing kinematics.
influence of the Strouhal number on the
Based on Ellington’s study [1- 3], the kinematic
propulsion generation. Results are discussed in
of flight produced by the generic wing (semi-
comparison with various selected simple models
elliptical wing) can be classified into the
in the literature, with a view to develop a
inclined stroke plane, where the resultant force
practical ornithopter model.
produced by the wing can be separated into
vertical and horizontal components, which are
1 Introduction lift, thrust and drag, respectively throughout the
up-stroke and down-stroke cycle; the inclined
The present work is a part of a series of work to stroke plane, where a large horizontal thrust
follow a generic approach to model the component will be produced; and the vertical
kinematics and aerodynamics of flapping wing stroke plane.
ornithopter, by focusing on a flapping quad-
1
 HARIJONO DJOJODIHARDJO & MUHAMMAD ANAS ABD BARI
Motivated by flying biosystems, flight
engineering has been initiated since hundreds
of years ago and has gradually grown from the
time of Leonardo Da Vinci to Otto Lilienthal’s
gliders, to modern aircraft technologies and
present flapping flight research. Recent interest
in the latter has grown significantly particularly
for small flight vehicles (or Micro-Air-
Vehicles) with very small payload carrying
capabilities to allow remote sensing missions
hazardous as well as confined areas. Some of
these vehicles may have a typical wingspan of
15 cm, with a weight restriction of less than
100 g (Ho et al, [4]). Perhaps the most
comprehensive account of insect flight or
entomopter to date is given by Weis-Fogh [5],
Ellington [1-3], Shyy et al [6-7], Dickinson et al
[8], Żbikowski [9] and Ansari et al [10], while
one of the first successful attempts to develop
birdlike flapping flight was made by DeLaurier
[11]. Although our interest in developing a
mathematical and experimental model is on
more or less rigid quad wing ornithopter, it is
also motivated by the fact that insect and
hummingbirds have lightweight, flexible wings
that undergo large deformations while flapping,
which can increase the lift of flapping wings
(Rosenfeld [12]). It will be of good interest how
wing flexibility can be later on adopted. The
flapping wing designs have been created with
varied success, for forward or hover mode, but
not both, based on observations of
hummingbirds and bats (Nicholson et al [13]).
According to Maybury and Lehmann [14], the
dragonfly has the capability to shift flight modes
simply by varying the phase lag between its fore
and hind wings. With that observation, a quad-
winged flapping system could be conceived as
the simplest mechanism that has the capabilities
to shift between flight modes [13]. In one of the
recent works in developing quad flapping wing
micro air vehicle, Ratti [15] has theoretically
shown that a flight vehicle with four flapping
wings has 50% higher efficiency than that with
two flapping wings. Inspired by the flight of a
dragonfly, Prosser [16] analyzed, developed and
demonstrated a Quad-Wing Micro Air Vehicle
(QW-MAV) which can produce higher
aerodynamic performance and energy
efficiency, and increased payload capacity
Fig. 1: Upstroke and downstroke motion of dragonfly
(Adapted from [17]).
compared to a conventional (flapping wing)
MAV (BW-MAV). However, to develop a
generic model of flapping wing ornithopter, Bi-
Wing ornithopter will first be reviewed and
developed, and then extended to quad-wing
ornithopter.
The image displayed in Fig. 1 exhibit a
dragonfly, which will later be imitated to take
advantage of the quad-wing kinematic and
aerodynamic interactions, in the effort of
improving the performance of the ornithopter to
be developed. Fig. 1 also schematically exhibits
the flapping motion of the quad-wing dragonfly,
as studied by Wang and Russell [17]. Within
such backdrop, a generic approach is followed
to understand and mimic the unsteady
aerodynamics of Biosystem that can be adopted
in the present bi-wing FW-MAV and quad-wing
QWMAV, following our previous attempt to
develop pterosaur-like ornithopter to produce
lift and thrust for forward flight as a simple and
workable ornithopter flight model [18]. At the
present stage, such model will not take into
account the more involved leading edge vortex
and wake penetration exhibited by insect flight
[1-10].
2 Kinematics of Flapping Wing Motion
The flapping wing motion of ornithopters and
entomopters can be generally grouped in three
classes, based on the kinematics of the wing
motion and mechanism of forces generation; the
horizontal stroke plane, inclined stroke plane
and vertical stroke plane [5]. As a result of these
2
 KINEMATIC AND UNSTEADY AERODYNAMIC MODELLING OF
kinematics, the aerodynamics
associated with insect flight are
also very different from those met
in conventional fixed- and rotary-
wing air-vehicle or even bird flight
[10]. Based on Ellington’s study [1-
(a)Top view and outline of an eagle wing (b)The present Baseline Generic Wing Planform.
3], the kinematics of flight
produced by the generic wing
(semi-elliptical wing) can be Fig. 2: A generic semi-elliptical ornithopter wing planform adopted from
classified into the inclined stroke
plane, where the resultant force produced by the
wing can be separated into vertical and
horizontal components, which are lift, thrust and
drag, respectively, throughout the up-stroke and
down-stroke cycle; the inclined stroke plane,
where a large horizontal thrust component will
be produced; and the vertical stroke plane.
Insect wings are elegant, impressive and
instructive to be considered in the development
of small-scale engineering. They are deformable
airfoils whose shape is actively controlled by
the wingbase articulation while the wing area is
subject to inertial, elastic and aerodynamic
forces.
3 Theoretical Development of the Generic
Aerodynamics of Flapping Wings
Following the frame of thought elaborated in the
previous section, several generic flying
biosystem wing planforms are chosen as
baseline geometries for the ornithopter.
Referring to the eagle wing and for convenience
of baseline analysis, the semi elliptical wing
(shown in Fig. 2) is selected for the current bi-
wing baseline study, which will also be utilized
for the quad-wing study.
In the present work, analytical approaches of
quasi-steady and unsteady model are carefully
evaluated in order to deal with the aerodynamic
problem. In agreement with the quasi-steady
model, it is observed and can be assumed that
the flapping frequencies are sufficiently slow
that shed wake effects are negligible, as in
pterosaur and medium- to large-sized birds so
that the unsteady approach attempts to model
the wake like hummingbird and insects can be
deferred to the refinement stage of the work.
The present aerodynamic approach is
synthesized using basic foundations that may
FLAPPING BI- AND QUAD-WING ORNITHOPTER
eagle-wing planform
exhibit the generic contributions of the motion
elements of the bio-inspired bi-wing and quad-
wing air vehicle characteristics. These are the
strip theory and thin wing aerodynamic
approach [19], Jones modified Theodorsen
unsteady aerodynamics [20, 11], incorporation
of leading edge suction [21, 22], and Jones’
modified Theodorsen approach which
incorporates Garrick’s leading edge suction.
The computation of lift and thrust generated by
pitching and flapping motion of three-
dimensional rigid wing is conducted in a
structured approach using strip theory and
Jones’ modified Theodorsen approach without
camber, leading edge suction and post-stall
behavior. Later, the computational model will
take into account certain physical parameters
that can be identified via observations and
established results of various researchers.
Lifting-surface theory [23-26] may later be
incorporated. In the present work, unsteady
aerodynamics of a flapping wing using a
modified strip theory approach as a
simplification of DeLaurier’s[11] approach is
utilized without post-stall behavior. The
computational logic in the present work is
summarized in the Flow-Chart exhibited in Fig.
3.
To obtain insight into the mechanism of lift and
thrust generation, Djojodihardjo and Ramli [27-
29] and Djojodihardjo and Bari [30-31]
analyzed the wing flapping motion by looking
into the individual contribution of the pitching,
flapping and coupled pitching-flapping to the
generation of the aerodynamic forces. Also the
influence of the variation of the forward speed,
flapping frequency and pitch-flap phase lag has
been analyzed. Such approach will also be
followed here through further scrutiny of the
motion elements. The generic procedure is
3
 HARIJONO DJOJODIHARDJO & MUHAMMAD ANAS ABD BARI

4. The flapping angle β varies as a

sinusoidal function and pitching angle θ
are given by the following equations.
 (t )  0 cos t (1)
dy
 (t )  0 sin(t   )   (2)
B
where θ0 and βo indicate maximum value
for each variables,  is the lag between
pitching and flapping angle and y is the
distance along the span of the wing.
As a baseline, by referring to eq. (1) and
eq. (2), β is considered to vary following
a cosine function while θ a sine function.
Fig. 3: Ornithopter Flapping Wing Aerodynamics Leading edge suction is included
Computational Scheme following the analysis of Polhamus [32]
which has been taken into consideration
synthesized from the pitching-flapping motion
by DeLaurier’s approximation [11] and Harmon
[33].
Three dimensional effects
will later be introduced by
using Scherer’s modified
Theodorsen-Jones Lift
Deficiency Factor [34].
To account for the
unsteady effects,
Theodorsen unsteady
aerodynamics [19] and its
three dimensional version
by Jones [20] have been
incorporated. Further
refinement is made to
Fig. 4: (a)Forces on section of the wing. (b),(c),(d)Flapping and Pitching motion of
flapping wing.
improve accuracy. Thin
airfoil approximation
based on Prandtl’s lifting line theory, i.e. that
of rigid wing developed by DeLaurier [11],
the circulation is acting on the quarter-chord and
taking into account unsteady aerodynamics of
the downwash and dominant airflow is
Theodorsen [19], Jones [20], and Garrick [22].
calculated at the three-quarter chord point, is
The flapping motion of the wing is
also adopted for each strip.
distinguished into three distinct motions with
In the present analysis no linear variation of the
respect to the three axes; these are: a) Flapping,
wing’s dynamic twist is assumed for
which is up and down plunging motion of the
simplification and instructiveness. However, in
wing; b) Feathering is the pitching motion of
principle, such additional requirements can
wing and can vary along the span; c) Lead-lag,
easily be added due to thelinearity assumption.
which is in-plane lateral movement of wing, as
Assuming small angle approximation, for the
incorporated in Fig. 4. The lead-lag motion
plunging displacement or heaving of the wing,
could be interpreted to apply to the phase lag
the flapping displacement his given by
between pitching and flapping motion, while the
fore-and-aft movement can be associated with
h  y (3)
the orientation of the stroke plane. The degree
of freedom of the motion is also depicted in Fig.
4
 KINEMATIC AND UNSTEADY AERODYNAMIC MODELLING OF
FLAPPING BI- AND QUAD-WING ORNITHOPTER

Fig. 5: Schematic diagram of flapping and pitching components of induced velocities at ¾ chord.

The total normal force acting perpendicularly to

 3  
the chord line and given by  
 h cos    a  c  U (   ) 
4
dN  dNc  dNnc (4)   (8)
The circulatory normal force for each section U
acts at the quarter chord and also perpendicular   Aeit (9)
to the chord line and is given by [11] which is schematically elaborated in Fig.5.
UV After considering all of these basic
dNc  Cn ( y )cdy (5)
2 fundamentals, the relative angle of attack at
 c 2  three-quarter chord point α’ is given by
dN nc  Vmid chord dy (6)
4 AR  c G(k )  wo
where '  F ( k )     (10)
1 (2  AR)  2U k  U
Vmid chord  U  c (7) which has taken into account the three
4
Using these relationships, the relative velocity at dimensionality of the wing.
three-quarter chord point which is used for the The finiteness of the span of the wing is
calculation of the aerodynamic forces can be accounted for by using this factor α’ in the
established. The relative angle of attack at three- unsteady flow calculation, since although strip
quarter chord, α, is then given by theory is employed, the present method deals
with elliptical planform wing. For such
considerations, Jones [20] came up with

Fig. 6: Lift and thrust for each flapping components

5
 HARIJONO DJOJODIHARDJO & MUHAMMAD ANAS ABD BARI

modified unsteadiness coefficient C(k ) cos(ks) cos   C(k )sin(ks)sin  

L  2 b  I .P  
Cn  2 C (k ) jones  (11)   iC(k )  cos(ks)sin   sin(ks) cos  
where C(k)jones in (11) is the modified (20)
Theodorsen Lift Deficiency function for finite and the imaginary parts of the above equation is
aspect ratio which has also been utilized by C(k )sin  ks    (21)
DeLaurier in his approach. Accordingly, Therefore:
C(k)jones is a complex function; therefore it is L
more convenient to use Scherer’s [19,20]  1
 G(k )   (22)
2 b   F (k ) 2  G(k ) 2  2 sin  ks  tan 1

formulation which takes the following form 
  F (k )  
AR C (k )
C (k ) jones  (12) For consistency with the strip theory, the
(2  AR)
downwash for untwisted planform wing is given
C (k )  F (k )  iG(k ) (13)
by (Anderson [36])
C(k), F(k) and G(k) relate to the well-known wo 2( 0   )
Theodorsen function [19,20] which are  (23)
U 2  AR
functions of reduced frequency, k. In addition,
in present study, the interpretation that the real From Fig. 5(c), the flow velocity which includes
part of C(k) contributes only to the lift whereas the downwash and wing’s motion relative to
the imaginary part for the thrust is adopted. This free-stream velocity, V can be formulated as
interpretation follows the methodological V
philosophy of Theodorsen and Garrick [26,39] 1
and the classical unsteady aerodynamics. Using  22 (24)
   1 
2
 U cos  h sin       U  '    c  
Complex Analysis, the unsteady lift is expressed   2  
as [22]: where the third and fourth terms are acting at
L  2 bC (k )Q (14)
the three-quarter chord point. The apparent mass
where Q is given by Q  eit . Then, effect (momentum transferred by accelerating
substitution Q into eq. (14) gives air to the wing) for the section, is perpendicular
L  2 bC (k ) eit  (15) to the wing, and acts at mid chord, and can be
calculated as [11]
In the Complex Analysis of Theodorsen,  c 21
Garrick, the convenience of the analysis is to dN nc   (U   c)dy (25)
4 4
associate the Imaginary part of (14) and (15) 1 
with the Lift [22, 35]. The details are elaborated The term U   c is mid-chord normal
4
as follows. The reduced frequency is defined as velocity’s time rate of change due to the motion
b b  t of the wing.
k , or t   ks . Assuming
  b Apart from normal forces, chordwise forces
sinusoidal motion are also generated due to sectional circulation
eit    cos t  i sin t  (16) distribution as in Fig. 6(a). The total chordwise
or force, dFx is accumulated by three forces which
eit    cos ks  i sin ks  (17) are leading edge suction, force due to camber,
and chordwise friction drag due to viscosity
Combining (13 ) and (15), one obtains:
effect. All of these forces acting along and
L  2 b  F (k )  iG(k )  cos ks  i sin ks  (18)
parallel to the chord line as in the Fig. 4(a).
Note that dFx  dTs  dDcamber  dD f (26)
1
C (k )  C  k   F (k )  iG(k )   F (k ) 2  G(k ) 2 

2
(19) where Garrick’s [26,39] expression for leading
edge suction, dTs is
 1 c  UV
After algebraic manipulation, Eq. (18) reduces dTs  s 2        cdy
 4U  2 (27)
to

6
 KINEMATIC AND UNSTEADY AERODYNAMIC MODELLING OF
FLAPPING BI- AND QUAD-WING ORNITHOPTER

and [11] parameters, such as flapping frequency, wing

UV angle of incidence and the effect of total
dDcamber  2 o (    ) cdy (28) flapping angle, to the flight performance
2
desired. Fig. 8 (a) and (b) show the
1
dD f  Vx2C f cdy (29)
2
According to the potential theory, the leading
edge suction for most airfoils is predicted to be
less that 100% due to viscosity effect, hence the
efficiency term ηs is introduced for dTs. The
normal 2D force, dN and 2D chordwise force,
dFx for each section is of the is also changes its
direction at every instant during flapping. These
forces in the vertical and horizontal directions
will be resolved into those perpendicular and
parallel to the free-stream velocity, respectively.
The resulting vertical and horizontal
components of the forces is then given by
dL  dN cos  dFx sin  (30)
dT  dFx cos  dNsin  (31)
These expressions are then integrated along the
semi span, b/2 in order to obtain a three
dimensional lift for each wing
b /2
L L
0
2D dy (32)
Fig. 7: Variation of Lift (a) and Thrust (b) with phase
b /2
lag between Pitching and Flapping
T T
0
2D dy (33)
contribution of individual motion component
to the lift and thrust including the result
4 The influence of the phase-lag between using the lifting surface method result
pitching and flapping motionand the obtained by La Mantia and Dabnichki [37]
individual motion component on the flight and Spectral Method of Ou and Jameson
performance [38], respectively.
A parametric study is carried out to
5 Modeling and Parametric Study of the
investigate the influence of the phase lag
Influence of Leading Edge Vortex (LEV) on
between pitching and flapping motion to the
Bi-wing Flapping Motion Aerodynamics
generation of lift and thrust. As exhibited in
Fig. 7, the optimum lift and thrust can also To study the influence of a leading edge vortex
be obtained by appropriate choice of this (LEV) on the flapping flight performance, the
phase lag. From this study, it is observed that oscillatory motion of bi-wing flapping system is
the lift always increases with phase lag angle simulated by assuming discontinuous motion,
between pitching and flapping motion, and it by considering the discontinuity to be
reaches its maximum value when the phase contributed by instant vortex shedding at the
lag angle,  = 3π/8. The thrust also exhibits leading edge. To serve as a baseline, the
a similar behavior. development of the simulation is based on the
Another study is carried out to assess the following rationale:
influence of other flapping wing motion

7
 HARIJONO DJOJODIHARDJO & MUHAMMAD ANAS ABD BARI

Fig. 8: The contribution of individual motion component to the lift

(upper) and thrust (lower); comparison with Lifting surface result of
La Mantia and Dabnichki[37] and Spectral Method of Ou and
Jameson [38] exhibit similar qualitative behavior

 LEV is assumed to occur as part of the Fig. 9: Lift and thrust due to simulated LEV effect
pitching motion
 LEV is created due to sudden downstroke
movement of the leading edge; from
biological and performance optimization
reason, LEV is assumed not to be created
during the upstroke.
 LEV is created during the sudden change of
motion which is assumed to take place
within a fraction of each stroke. For
illustration, without loss of generalities, that
fraction is assumed to be in the order of
10%.
 Since the lift and thrust are the two
components of the aerodynamic force and
thrust of the flapping wing, then this
idealized LEV is acting in the same fashion
for both lift and thrust.
 These assumptions are only applied to the
pitch motion without considering skin Fig. 10: (a) Drag producing vortex street; (b)
Thrust producing vortex street. Adapted from [40]
friction, three-dimensional effect and
8
 KINEMATIC AND UNSTEADY AERODYNAMIC MODELLING OF
FLAPPING BI- AND QUAD-WING ORNITHOPTER
leading edge suction. The effect of these
three flapping motion components, from
physical reasoning, should be superposed to
the resulting discontinuous pitching motion
to obtain the total lift and thrust per cycle
similar to the procedure followed in the
absence of LEV.
Without going through the detail, such
procedure is followed to mimic the influence of
LEV in a biosystem, to reach the objective of
enhancing performance as intrinsic control in
biosystem and to allow simple simulation in a
mechanized ornithopter.Then a parametric
study is carried out to simulate discontinuous
motion that will produce better lift and thrust.
The result are exhibited in Fig. 9a, which
indicates that by performing such discontinuous
pitching oscillation, better lift contribution to
the flapping aerodynamic performance is
produced compared to the original continuous
one. However, no significant thrust
contribution is indicated (Fig. 9b).
6 Aerodynamic Forces and Strouhal
Number Relationship in Bi-Wing
Von Karman and Burgers [39] offered the
first theoretical explanation of drag or thrust
production based on the resulting vortex
street (i.e., the placement and orientation of
the wake vortex elements). With respect to
flapping airfoil, Jones and Platzer [40]
demonstrates that vortex streets
characteristic of drag production have a row
of vortices of clockwise rotation above the
Table 1: Average lift and thrust
symmetry plane, and a row of vortices of
counter-clockwise rotation below the
symmetry plane, as exhibited in shown in
Fig. 10a. For an airfoil plunging at a low
Strouhal number (k = 3.6, h = 0.08, St =
0.29), the vortices induce a velocity or
momentum deficit on the centerline
indicative of drag, and the wake wavelength,
, defined here as the distance between
vortex centers of same rotation, is shorter
than the wavelength predicted by linear
theory, l.t. = 2π/k, due to the production of
drag.
Oscillating the airfoil more energetically the
vortex street shown in Fig. 10b is generated (k =
3.0, h =0.20, St = 0.60), which produces thrust.
In the present work, the Strouhal number is
defined as
h0  h0 b h0
St    k (34)
 U b U b
For small insects, Yu and Ma [41] noted that
the flapping Strouhal number St  1.0, i.e. the
reduced frequency k = 2St  2, and noted
Lighthill's findings, that k = 0.5 is the upper
limit of applying the quasi-steady assumption.
Pennycuick [42] experimentally derived the
correlation of the wing-beat frequency for
flapping flight to the body mass, wingspan,
wing area and the wing moment of inertia. For
birds with the body mass ranging from 20g to
nearly 5kg the wingbeat frequency is correlated
by the following formula:
9

1.08 m g
f  3 (35)
b  S k
where m is the bird’s body mass in kg, g is the
gravitational acceleration, b is the wingspan, S
is the wing area and  is the air density. With
such correlation, Pennycuick typically found
wing beat frequency, which is k, to be ~ 4.14 Hz
5
Mantia & Dabnichki [38]
Schouveiler & Triantafyllou [44]
4 Read et al.[43]
Present Work
Platzer & Jones [40]
3
Thrust Coefficient,Cfx
1 Fig. 12: Schematic diagram of fore wing
0 wing
-1
0.1 0.2 0.3 0.4 0.5
Strouhal Number,St
Fig. 11: Thrust - Strouhal Number relationship in
comparison with other results from the literature.
or ω =9.8775 rad/sec. Earlier work [27-29] has
applied this frequency and obtained reasonable
results for bi-wing flapping ornithopter
comparable to results derived from the literature
and biosystems, using a flapping wing model
with chord-length of 0.08m.
By analyzing data from flapping foils, such as
those given by [40, 42] it could be surmised it
was found that the thrust inducing vortices form
optimally when the Strouhal number lies
between 0.25 and 0.35. It can be anticipated that
efficiency should be at a maximum for these
values. Some preliminary experiments at the
M.I.T. testing tank [43,44] confirmed that the
efficiency of a flapping foil does indeed peak
when the Strouhal number is in this range.
Understanding flapping propulsion may imply a
far-field analysis of a phenomenon that may
also be understood in the near field which can
be carried out using simple analysis as the
present work or lifting surface simulation. In the
following sections we attempt to describe
flapping propulsion as related to flapping
frequency and/or Strouhal number.
Rewriting the relationship between Strouhal
Number and reduced frequency (wing-beat
frequency) (33) in the following form
HARIJONO DJOJODIHARDJO & MUHAMMAD ANAS ABD BARI
c  fc fA c c
   St (34a)
2U U UA A
it can be seen that with flapping amplitude of
downwash and induced angle of attack on hind
0.6 about c, the two frequency parameters are
equal. With Strouhal numbers in the range of
0.3, the quasi-steady assumption may be
reasonable when the amplitude is larger than
about 3 chords, but not if it is much smaller.
With such background, Fig. 11 is produced from
the bi-wing results [27-31] using the present bi-
wing computational modeling as a baseline.
Comparison made with the panel method results
of [38] and experimental results of Read et al
[43] and Schouvelier et al [44] show reasonable
qualitative agreement. In view of the simplicity
of the present bi-wing three-dimensionally
modified strip-theory unsteady aerodynamic
approach, such agreement is encouraging.
7 Modeling of Quad-wing
Based on modelling and encouraging results
obtained from bi-wing, the quad-wing will be
modeled.For the quad-wing kinematics and
aerodynamics, the present work takes into
account the influence of the forewing induced
downwash on the hindwing effective angle of
attack.
This effect is modeled by assuming that, at any
the induced downwash is also calculated at the
quarter-chord point of the hindwing, as depicted
instant, the circulation Γ of the forewing acts at
its quarter-chord point, and in Fig. 12.
Following Kutta-Joukowski Law, the
10
 KINEMATIC AND UNSTEADY AERODYNAMIC MODELLING OF
FLAPPING BI- AND QUAD-WING ORNITHOPTER

instantaneous equivalent circulation generated Table 2: The quad-wing average lift and thrust
by the forewing is given by
L fore Forces Results
 (36)
U  Average Lift 0.3631
and the induced velocity Vi , following Biot- Average Thrust 3.366
Savart law is given by

Fig. 13: Computational Results of Lift and Thrust and comparison withWang &Russel [17] results

leading edge of the hind wing and the trailing

 edge of the fore wing .
Vi  (37)
2 d Initial initiative was done with an assumption
Following Fig. 11, for small angle of attack, the that the fore and hind wings are closely
induced angle is formulated as attached, that is there is no gap between the
V leading edge of the hind wing and the trailing
induced  i (38) edge of the fore wing .The results in Table 2 are
U
Therefore the pitching angle of the hind wing is obtained using the following wing geometry and
given by parameters: the wingspan of 40cm, aspect ratio
dy Vi of 6.2, flapping frequency of 7Hz, total flapping
 (t )  0 sin(t   )    (39) angle of 60º, forward speed of 6m/s, maximum
B U pitching angle of 20º, incidence angle of 6º and
wing dihedral angle. The results of both
8 Results for Quad-Wing methods are compared to appreciate the
influence of physical refinements in the
8.1 Simulation Results computational procedure and for validation
purposes. This analysis is also accounts for the
Initial initiative was done with an assumption
induced angle of attack on the hind wing due to
that the fore and hind wings are closely
downwash of the fore wing. The results are
attached, that is there is no gap between the
presented in Fig. 13 and
Table 3: Quad-Wing Parametric study results Table 3.
Fig. 13also shows the lift
computed using the present
simplified and generic
model, for 180o phase
angle between fore- and
hind-wings, compared to
previous work [27] Wang
and Russell’s more

11
 HARIJONO DJOJODIHARDJO & MUHAMMAD ANAS ABD BARI

elaborate model calculation [17]. This further tailored to meet certain objectives.
comparison is very qualitative, for proof of
concept considerations. 8.3 Parametric Study for Quad-Wing
8.2 Variation of Oscillatory Articulation of A parametric study is carried out to assess the
the Quad-Wing influence of certain flapping wing motion
Following the procedure and parametric study parameters to the flight performance desired.
carried out for bi-wing ornithopter [27-31], the The study considers the following parameters:
present study also addresses the flapping the effect of forward speed, the effect of
kinematics accordingly, by taking into flapping frequency, the effect of lag angle, the
considerations what has been learned from bi- effect of distance between fore and hind wing
wing
parametric
study. The
forewing and
hindwing are
arranged in
tandem without
gap, so that the
leading edge of
the hindwing
touches the
trailing edge of
Fig. 15: Lift and Thrust generated by Fore and Hind wing
the forewing, and
they are moving
simultaneously. The pitching motion of both and the effect of the total flapping angle. The
forewing and hindwing moves sinusoidally, results are exhibited in Fig. 15 and table 3. In
while the flapping motion of both is varied general, the sensitivity of the bi-wing and quad-
following sine, negative cosine and cosine. The wing towards these parameters are comparable.
results, as exhibited in Fig. 14, shows that the Interesting results are exhibited by Table 1
synchronous sinusoidal pitching and flapping where the combination of pitch and flap of both
produce the maximum amplitude as well as fore and hind wings are varied.
average values of lift and thrust. These results Results obtained as exhibited in next section
also indicate one variation only of such show the lift produced for various scenarios
oscillatory articulation possibilities that could be involving phase combinations between flapping
and pitching
motions of the
individual fore-
and hind-wings.
Table 1
summarizes the
average forces
per cycle for the
selected
scenarios.
A deduction can
be made from
the results from
Table 1 that the
Fig. 14: Lift and thrust for quad-wing for each flapping motion components
phase lag of π/4

12
 KINEMATIC AND UNSTEADY AERODYNAMIC MODELLING OF
FLAPPING BI- AND QUAD-WING ORNITHOPTER
produces the maximum lift and thrust among the
others. However further analysis to optimize the
combination of these parameters is still under
progress.
9 Conclusion
The present work has been performed to assess
the effect of flapping-pitching motion with
pitch-flap phase lag in the flight of ornithopter.
In this conjunction, a computational model has
been considered, and a generic computational
method has been adopted, utilizing strip theory
and two-dimensional unsteady aerodynamic
theory of Theodorsen with modifications to
account for three-dimensional and viscous
effects and leading edge suction. The study is
carried out on semi-elliptical wing planforms.
For the quad-wing ornithopter, at the present
stage, the simplified computational model
adopted verified the gain in lift obtained as
compared to bi-wing flapping ornithopter, in
particular by the possibility of varying the phase
lag between the flapping and pitching motion of
individual wing as well as between the fore- and
hind-wings. A structured approach has been
followed to assess the effect of different design
parameters on lift and thrust of an ornithopter,
as well as the individual contribution of the
component of motion. These results lend
support to the utilization of the generic
modeling adopted in the synthesis of a flight
model, although more refined approach should
be developed. Various physical elements could
be considered to develop ornithopter kinematic
and aerodynamic modeling, as well as using
more refined aerodynamic computation, such as
CFD or lifting surface methods. In retrospect, a
generic physical and computational model based
on simple kinematics and basic aerodynamics of
a flapping-wing ornithopter has been
demonstrated to be capable of revealing its basic
characteristics and can be utilized for further
development of a flapping-wing MAV.
Application of the present kinematic,
aerodynamic and computational approaches
shed some light on some of the salient
aerodynamic performance of the quad-wing
ornithopter.
The results have been compared and validated
with other literatures within similar unsteady
aerodynamic approach and general physical
data, and within the physical assumptions
limitations; encouraging qualitative agreements
or better have been indicated, which meet the
proof of concept objectives of the present work.
For the bi-wing flapping ornithopter, judging
from lift per unit span, the present flapping-
wing model performance is comparable to those
studied by Byl [37] and Harmon [32].The
analysis and simulation by splitting the flapping
and pitching motion shows that: (a) The lift is
dominantly produced by the pitching motion,
since the relative airflow effect prevailed along
75% of the chord length. (b) The thrust is
dominated by flapping motion (c) Phase-lag
could be utilized to obtain optimum lift and
thrust for each wing configurations.
Acknowledgment
The authors would like to thank Universiti Putra
Malaysia (UPM) for granting Research
University Grant Scheme (RUGS) Project Code:
9378200, under which the present research is
carried out.
References
[1] Ellington CP, The Aerodynamics of Hovering Insect
Flight, III. Kinematics, Phil. Trans. R. Soc. London
B, 305, pp 41-78, 1984.
[2] Ellington CP, The Novel Aerodynamics of Insect
Flight: Applications to Micro-Air Vehicles, The
Journal of Experimental Biology 202, pp 3439–3448,
1999.
[3] Ellington CP, The Aerodynamics of Hovering Insect
Flight, I, Quasi-Steady Analysis,” Phil.Trans. of
Roy.Soc.London, B, Bio.Sci., Vol 35, No 1122, Feb
1984.
[4] Ho S, Nassef H, Pornsinsirirak N, Tai YC and Ho
CM, Unsteady Aerodynamics and Flow Control for
Flapping Wing Flyers, Progress in Aerospace
Sciences 39, pp 635–681, 2003.
[5] Weis-Fogh T, Quick Estimates of Flight Fitness in
Hovering Animals, Including Novel Mechanisms for
Lift Production. Journal of Experimental Biology 59,
pp 169–230, 1973.
[6] Shyy W, Berg M and Ljungqvist D, Flapping and
Flexible Wings for Biological and Micro Air
Vehicles, Progress in Aerospace Sciences, Vol. 35:
pp 455-505, 1999.
[7] Shyy W, Aono H, Chimakurthi S K, Trizila P, Kang
C-K, Cesnik C E S and Li H. Recent Progress in
13
 HARIJONO DJOJODIHARDJO & MUHAMMAD ANAS ABD BARI
Flapping Wing Aerodynamics and Aeroelasticity,
Progress in Aerospace Science, 2010.
[8] Dickinson M H, Lehmann F O and Sane S P, Wing
Rotation and the Aerodynamic Basis of Insect Flight,
Science 284, pp 1954, 1999.
[9] Żbikowski R, On Aerodynamic Modelling of an
Insect-like Flapping Wing in hover for Micro Air
Vehicles, Phil. Trans. R. Soc. Lond. A 360, pp 273-
390, 2002.
[10] Ansari S A, Żbikowski R and Knowles K,
Aerodynamic Modelling of Insect-like Flapping
Flight for Micro Air Vehicles, Progress in Aerospace
Sciences 42, pp 129–172, 2006.
[11] DeLaurier J D, An Aerodynamic Model for Flapping
Wing Flight, The Aeronautical Journal of the Royal
Aeronautical Society, pp. 125-130, 1993.
[12] Rosenfeld N C, An Analytical Investigation of
Flapping Wing Structures for MAV, Ph.D. Thesis,
University of Maryland, 2011.
[13] Nicholson B, Page S, Dong H and Slater J, Design of
a Flapping Quad-Winged Micro Air Vehicle, AIAA-
4337, 2007.
[14] Maybury W J and Lehmann F-O, The Fluid
Dynamics of Flight Control by Kinematic Phase Lag
Variation Between Two Robotic Insect Wings,
Journal of Experimental Biology, Vol. 207, pp 4707-
4726, 2004.
[15] Ratti J, QV-The Quad Winged, Energy Efficient, Six
degree of Freedom Capable Micro Air Vehicle, PhD
thesis, Georgia Institute of Technology, 2011.
[16] Prosser D T, Flapping Wing Design for a Dragon-fly
like MAV, M.Sc. Thesis, Rochester Institute of
Technology, 2011.
[17] Wang Z J and Russell D, Effect of Forewing and
Hindwing Interactions on Aerodynamic Forces and
Power in Hovering Dragonfly Flight, Physical
Review Letters 99, 148101, 2007.
[18] Lentink D, Jongerius S R and Bradshaw N L, The
Scalable Design of Flapping Micro-Air Vehicles
Inspired by Insect Flight, Flying Insects and Robots,
pp 185-205, 2010.
[19] Theodorsen T, General Theory of Aerodynamic
Instability and the Mechanism of Flutter, NACA
Report No.496, 1949.
[20] Jones R T, The Unsteady Lift of a Wing of Finite
Aspect Ratio, NACA Report 681, 1940.
[21] Kuethe A M, Chow C-Y, The Finite Wing,
Foundations of Aerodynamics, 4th ed, John Wiley,
New York, pp145-164, 1986.
[22] Garrick I E, Propulsion of a Flapping and Oscillating
Aerofoil, NACA Report No.567, 1936.
[23] Ashley H, Landahl M T and Widnall S E, New
Directions in Lifting Surface Theory, AIAA journal,
3, No.1, 1965.
[24] Albano A and Rodden W P, A doublet-lattice method
for calculating lift distributions on oscillating
surfaces in subsonic flows, AIAA Journal, Vol. 7, No.
2, pp. 279-285, 1969.
[25] Djojodihardjo H and Widnall S E, A numerical
method for the calculation of nonlinear, unsteady
lifting potential flow problems, 1969,
AIAA Journal, Vol. 7, No. 2, pp. 2001-2009, 1969
[26] Murua J, Palacios R, and Graham, J M R,
Applications of the Unsteady Vortex-Lattice Method
in Aircraft Aeroelasticity and Flight Dynamics
Preprint submitted to Progress in Aerospace Sciences
August 1, 2012
[27] Djojodihardjo H and Ramli ASS, Kinematic And
Unsteady Aerodynamic Modelling, Numerical
Simulation And Parametric Study Of Flapping Wing
Ornithopter, Proceedings, International Forum on
Aeroelasticity and Structural Dynamics, Bristol,
2013.
[28] Djojodihardjo H and Ramli A S S, Generic and
Parametric Study of the Aerodynamic Characteristics
of Flapping Wing Micro-Air-Vehicle, Applied Mech.
and Materials, Trans Tech Publications,
Switzerland,Vol.225, pp 18-25, 2012.
[29] Djojodihardjo H and Ramli, A S S, Kinematic and
Aerodynamic Modeling of Flapping Wing
Ornithopter, Procedia Engineering (Elsevier), Vol.
50, 2012, pp 848-863, 2012.
[30] Djojodihardjo H and Bari M A A , Further
Development of the Kinematic and Aerodynamic
Modeling and Analysis of Flapping Wing
Ornithopter from Basic Principles, Submitted to
Aerotech Conference 2014, October 29-30 2014,
Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia
[31] Djojodihardjo H and Bari M A A, Kinematic and
Unsteady Aerodynamic Modelling of Flapping Wing.
Submitted for publication, 2014 .
[32] Polhamus E C, A Concept Of The Vortex Lift Of
Sharp-Edge Delta Wings Based On A Leading-Edge-
Suction Analogy, NASA TN D-3767, 1966.
[33] Harmon R L, Aerodynamic Modelling of a Flapping
Membrane Wing Using Motion Tracking
Experiments, M.Sc. Thesis, University of Maryland,
2008.
[34] Scherer J O, Experimental and Theoretical
Investigation of Large Amplitude Oscillating Foil
Propulsion Systems, Hydronautics, Laurel, Md,
December 1968.
[35] Garrick I E, On Some Reciprocal Relations in the
Theory of Nonstationary Flows, NACA Report 629,
1938.
[36] Anderson J D, Fundamentals of Aerodynamics,
fourth ed., McGraw-Hill, New York.2004.
[37] Ou, K. and Jameson, A., Towards Computational
Flapping Wing Aerodynamics of Realistic
Configurations using Spectral Difference Method,
AIAA 2011-3068, 20th AIAA CFD Conference,
2011
[38] La Mantia, M. and Dabnichki, P., Unsteady Panel
Method for Oscillating Foils, in Advances in BE
Tech., Gatmiri, Sellier, Aliabadi, BETEQ-2006-
part2, 2006
[39] Von Karman, T. and Burgers, J. M.,, General
Aerodynamic Theory - Perfect Fluids," Division E,
14
 KINEMATIC AND UNSTEADY AERODYNAMIC MODELLING OF
FLAPPING BI- AND QUAD-WING ORNITHOPTER

Vol. II, Aerodynamic Theory, Ed. Durand, W. F., [58] Phillips N and Knowles K, Formation of the Leading-
1943, p. edge Vortex and Spanwise Flow on an Insect-like
[40] Jones, K.D. and Platzer,M.F., Numerical Flapping-wing throughout a Flapping Half Cycle,
Computation of Flapping-Wing Propulsion and https://dspace.lib.cranfield.ac.uk/bitstream/1826/.../ma
Power Extraction, AIAA−97−0826-NPS Lib. nuscript%20final.p
[41] Yu, Tong, Ma, An Analytic Approach To Theoretical [59] Warrick D R, Tobalske B W and Powers D R, Lift
Modeling of Highly Unsteady Viscous Flow Excited production in the hovering hummingbird, Proc. R.
By Wing Flapping in Small Insects, Acta Soc. B 276, pp 3747–3752, 2009
Mech.Sinica, V19, N6, Dec 2003
[42] Pennycuick C J, Predicting Wingbeat Frequency and
Wavelength of Birds, The Journal of Experimental Contact Author Email Address
Biology150, pp 171 – 85, 1990.
[43] Read, Hover and Triantafyllou, Forces on Oscillating Corresponding Author:
Foils for Propulsion and Maneuvering, Journal of Harijono Djojodihardjo. Professor, Aerospace
Fluids and Structures, 17 (1), pp 163-183, 2003. Engineering Department, Faculty of
[44] Schouveiler H and Triantafyllou, Performance of
Flapping Foil Propulsion, Journal of Fluids and Engineering, Universiti Putra Malaysia, 43400
Structures, 20 (7), pp 949-959, 2005. UPM Serdang, Selangor Darul Ehsan, Malaysia.
[45] Byl K, A Passive Dynamic Approach for Flapping Email address:
Wing Micro Aerial Vehicle Control, ASME Dynamic harijono@djojodihardjo.com
Systems and Controls Conference, 2010.
http://www.ece.ucsb.edu/~katiebyl/papers/Byl10
_DSCC.pdf
[46] Norberg, U.M., Hovering Flight of Plecotus auritus,
L. Bijdr. Dierk 40, Proc.2nd int. Bat.Res, Conf., pp
62-66, 1970.
[47] Tedrake R, Jackowski Z, Cory R, Roberts J W and Copyright Statement
Hoburg W, Learning to Fly like a Bird, The authors confirm that they, and/or their company or
Communications of the ACM, 2009. organization, hold copyright on all of the original material
[48] Altshuler D L, Dudley R, Ellington C P, included in this paper. The authors also confirm that they
Aerodynamic Forces of Revolving Hummingbird have obtained permission, from the copyright holder of
Wings and Wing Models, J. Zool, Land., 264, pp any third party material included in this paper, to publish
327-332, 2004. it as part of their paper. The authors confirm that they
[49] Kesel A B, Aerodynamic Characteristics of give permission, or have obtained permission from the
Dragonfly Wing Sections Compared with Technical copyright holder of this paper, for the publication and
Airfoils, J. Exp. Biol. 203,pp 3125-3135, 2000. distribution of this paper as part of the ICAS2014
[50] Tucker V A, Gliding Birds: The Effect Of Variable proceedings or as individual off-prints from the
Wing Span, J. Exp. Biology, 133, 1987. proceedings.
[51] Mueller D, Bruck H A and Gupta, S K, Measurement
of Thrust and Lift Forces Associated with Drag of
Compliant Flapping Wing for Micro Air Vehicles
using a New Test Stand Design, Experimental
Mechanics 50, pp 725–735, 2009.
[52] Deng X and Hu Z, Wing-wing Interactions in
Dragonfly Flight, A Publication of Ine-Web.Org,
10.2417/1200811.1269, 2008.
[53] Jones K D and Platzer M F, Numerical Computation
of Flapping-Wing Propulsion And Power Extraction,
AIAA−97−0826-NPS Lib.
[54] Triantafyllou M S and Triantafyllou GS, An efficient
swimming machine, Scientific American; Vol. 272
Issue 3, web.mit.edu, 1995.
[55] Wang J, Dissecting Insect Flight, Ann.Rev.Fl.Mech.
2005, 37, pp 183-210.
[56] Jones and Platzer, On the Use of Vortex Flows for
the Propulsion of Micro-Air & Sea Vehicles, MP-
069(I)-(SYA)-40
[57] Xu B and Wang J, Passive wing pitch reversal in
insect flight, JFM 2007, Vol. 591,pp 321-327

15